- About
- Members
About
How can we go beyond existing forms of artistic and scientific practice, to imagine and create sustainable societies?
Artistic and scientific practice appear different on the surface, but these ways of engaging with the world are entangled in many ways. LEAP Lab uses participatory arts-based research methods to explore entanglements between artistic and scientific practice to re-imagine sustainable futures.
We will develop and apply a series of innovative arts-science techniques, and draw lessons from this experience to support research, teaching and practice. Working with partners across the arts and sciences, we will also explore new ways of organising art-science relationships and institutions.
This transdisciplinary project involves a collective of researchers and practitioners at the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University. It runs for two years from October 2024.
Our work is structured within three creative experiments (Un/knowing; Beyond the Gallery; and Portals to Possible Futures), which will each use a series of participatory workshops to explore different entanglements between artistic and scientific practice. We are keen to connect with interested people across the arts and sciences—do get in touch!
If you are interested in learning more about, or contributing to any of our experiments as a researcher or participant, please contact: leaplab@crassh.cam.ac.uk
If you are interested in staying informed of our activities, please subscribe to our mailing list.
Members
Dr. Annouchka Bayley – Annouchka is the Chair of the Arts and Creativities Research Group at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and leads the Arts, Creativities and Education MPhil programme as co-ordinator. Annouchka’s work situates artistic research, posthuman and new materialist philosophies and post-qualitative methodologies, within higher education pedagogical development that seek to find urgent modes of response to 21st century issues. Annouchka will primarily be working on the Portals to Possible Futures Experiment, together with James Norton, Max Fenner.
Max Fenner – Max is a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge in the Department of Politics and International Studies. The academic disciplines closest to his work are environmental politics, history and philosophy. Max will primarily be working on the Portals to Possible Futures Experiment, together with Annouchka Bayley and James Norton.
Prof. Karishma Jain – Karishma is Teaching Professor of Sustainability and Innovation at the Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, and Deputy Director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. Karishma’s initial training was in Natural Sciences – Chemistry, Physics and Materials Science. Her current work is increasingly leaning towards the Humanities and Social Sciences, in an effort to combine thinking from across disciplines to develop a more holistic view of sustainability and innovation in education and research. Karishma will primarily be working on the Beyond the Gallery Experiment, together with James Norton and Sarah Sharp.
Dr. Kevin Lim – Kevin is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Physics. The academic disciplines closest to his work are chemistry and physics. Beyond academics, he is also a singer-songwriter-storyteller, and has a keen interest in psychology. Kevin will primarily be working on the Un/knowing Experiment, together with Sarah Royston and Sarah Sharp.
James Norton – James is an artistic practitioner working with a range of approaches – fine art, multimedia, immersive storytelling, design, film and animation. He is affiliated to the Department of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University. James will be working on the Beyond the Gallery and Portals to Possible Futures Experiments.
Dr. Sarah Royston – Sarah is a Senior Research Fellow at the Global Sustainability Institute, Anglia Ruskin University. Sarah carries out interdisciplinary research on sustainability and society, with particular interests in creative practices, everyday life, and institutional change. Sarah’s disciplinary background is in Geography and Social Policy. Sarah will primarily be working on the Un/knowing Experiment, together with Kevin Lim and Sarah Sharp.
Sarah Sharp – Sarah is a PhD student at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and Associate Fellow at the UCL Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education. Her research centres around beyond-anthropocentric stories and their pedagogic potential in environmental education. Sarah is a practising theatre maker and co-founder of the environmental arts organisation, One Step Theatre. Sarah will be working on all three of the LEAP Lab Experiments – Un/knowing, Beyond the Gallery and Portals to Possible Futures.
The lead convenors of LEAP Lab are Prof. Karishma Jain and Dr. Annouchka Bayley
